Arlington Heights library opens Hub for area teens

The Arlington Heights Memorial Library opened the doors to its new teen area called the Hub on April 15. (Handout, Arlington Heights Memorial Library)

Teens in seventh through 12th grades now have their own gathering place at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.

The Hub opened April 15 to 60 teens and features a large, enclosed gathering space with a contemporary design and modular furniture for teens to collaborate on homework assignments, work independently at computers, doodle on the paper tablet coffee tables, get their game on or just hang out.

"We feel we can give them a chance to explore, be engaged and have their artistic views expressed here," said Tom Spicer, teen services supervisor, who helped design the space for teens to work together. "They move in groups because that's what they want to do socially but also because they're assigned group projects in school."

A separate gaming area features one large screen and Xbox 360, Playstation3 and Wii titles for individual or four-person gaming. The DIY, or do-it-yourself, area features interactive programs and options for teens looking for something to create after school. A large dry erase board, which is actually the north wall of this nook, offers directions this month on how to create minimarshmallows out of PVC and next month will offer tips on creating blackout poetry. Five Mac desktop stations are available on the east wall and five Mac laptops are available for checkout.

Serving Thomas and South middle schools, Christian Liberty Academy and St. Viator, Hersey, Buffalo Grove and Rolling Meadows high schools, the library caters to an estimated 10,000 area teens. Shelves of 3,000 books line the entrance to the Hub, named by Spicer for its interconnectivity to all things learning.

"I like the idea of you going to one point in the Hub to reach different points," Spicer said. "The center connects to other opportunities."

The area also showcases teen-themed books each month. It also highlights teen music and 15 magazine titles monthly.

Hijiri Aikawa, 18, visited the Hub one recent day after working in food service at Christian Liberty Academy.

"It's kind of relaxing. I can draw on the tables here," said Aikawa, of Palatine. "You get to expand your creativity here."

Vinnie Sluga, 26, of Rolling Meadows, a special-needs individual accompanied by his life coach from Clearbrook, said he was impressed with the new library space.

"It's very clean and organized, with lots of fun things to do like playing with the Macs and doing crafts and drawing on the tables," Sluga said

Another feature in the Hub is carved chair backs at the work tables. The four winners of the teen chair art contest were Kristen Yi of St. Viator for her "Rooted in Knowledge," Reed Skocz of Prospect High School for his "Untitled," Joohyuk Lee of Thomas Middle School for his "Master Chief" and Marissa Allen of Hersey for her "Possibilities."

Next on the agenda for Spicer and his Hub team is promoting the summer reading theme of "Make It: Read. Discover. Create." Teens will be given a pad that will be stamped every time they visit the Hub this summer, create in the DIY area, participate in literature-based book reviews, interact on social media with the library or conduct a filmmaking project. Once their card is complete, they will be entered to win one of four $50 gift cards to ETSY.com or MakerShed.com. Getting teens into the Hub is the goal of the program.

"We want to see teens come in and be comfortable," said Daisy Porter-Reynolds, director of services. "They can come in and get their hands wet and contribute to the feel of the space."

Teens also have access to the library's new digital studio suite for digital media projects, where they can compose, create and record their own music or video. Digital media specialists assist library patrons in digital editing, storing or sharing of videos online in the three editing suites. The studio also has a sound-isolation booth that allows patrons to record vocals or use an instrument to lay down their own tracks, as well as use of an electronic drum kit, lighting kit and backdrops for videos. Reservations are for two hours and available to area teens as well as all Arlington Heights Memorial Library cardholders.

The Hub, 500 N. Dunton Ave., is open from 3-9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Beginning June 3, the Hub will open at noon Monday through Friday for the summer.